The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel

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Overview

Generations of readers have delighted in the work of the great American humorist Don Marquis, who was frequently compared to Mark Twain. These free-verse poems, which first appeared in Marquis’s New York newspaper columns, revolve around the escapades of Archy, the philosophical cockroach who was once a poet, and Mehitabel, a streetwise alley cat who was once Cleopatra. Reincarnated as the lowest creatures on the social scale, they prowl the rowdy streets of New York City in between the world wars. The antics of these two immortal characters are now made available for the first time in their original order of publication in this unique, comprehensive collection, which features many poems never before reprinted.

First time in Penguin Classics

Archy and Mehitabel is considered the inspiration for E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web

Features many new poems never reprinted since they were first published early in the twentieth century

Introduction places Marquis in the context of American humor and the history of satire

Table of Contents

The Annotated Archy and MehitabelIntroduction by Michael SimsSuggestions for Further ReadingA Note on the Text

The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel

1916

Expression Is the NeedJust CockroachesSomething to SaySimplified SpellingHellFreddy Is No MoreUp or Down the ScaleRaise in SalaryAn Easy MarkGrind Down the Laboring ManJust for This, You Go in Agate, ArchyDesk All Cleaned UpCapitalsWhy Not Commit SuicideWriting All By ItselfWe Rushed Forward and SwattedMy Naked SoulOn My Recent DemiseBallade of the Under SideAeroplaneBack to the Starting PointLightning BugThe Next LineBe BeautifulCleopatraThe Queens I Have BeenUnpunctuated GinkButting These Keys with My HeadDrunken HornetCheer Up Cheer UpWhite PowderMy UltimatumSwiss CheeseKatydidSuicide Club, Part 1Suicide Club, Part 2Suicide Club, Part 3Suicide Club, Part 4Suicide Club, Part 5Killing Off the SparrowsMy Last NameWhere Is Archy?Arrest That StatueHappy Inspirations

1917

That Cockroach GlideArchy Gets His Statue MadeStatue of MyselfGoing to War of Just Going to HellMore or Less NeutralBetween Him and His MasterpieceWar TimesAgate for You, Archy, Just to Curb Your PrideThe Story of Mehitabel the CatA Pampered KittenMehitabel the Cat Has StruckIt Was BeerA Saucer Full of BeerThe Cat Is Sore at MeComma Boss CommaLawnWorkman Spare That BathtubWashington D CArchy in WashingtonTo Help Win the WarOut of the Cockroach BodyA German PeriscopePatience WorthBeware the Demon RumSounds Like a Jolly GangInterest in ScienceHe Cried into His BeerPrudenceToo Romantic to WorkI Knew a GhostThat Ghost That LoafsSuperiorSad Looking GhostBore His Way Out

1918

Literary Slave No LongerPoetry IsWindow Box War GardensThe Crippled CockroachWe Suspect ArchyCockroachismNamed after the Washington ArchAeroplane MailAssisting at a SuicideNot a FishAt the ZooProhibition Rushes Toward UsIncome Tax SlackerThe Raiding HabitA Loyal Allied CootieDialogue among the PlantsYe Instead of TheOne Thing That Makes Crickets So MelancholySphinxReports of My ExitGlorious FootfulnessFalling UpwardsHeadgearSmile When You Ride on the SubwayA Genuine QuipTobacco FundThe Advice of Your Little FriendJane Gad FlyThe InfluenzaA Tall StoryChief JanitorI Saw ArchyPeace ConferenceMore and More at SeaPoet OverboardFreedom of the SeasTwo Old MenPassing the BockThe Former KaiserAbdication Underneath the BoughWho Pays for All ThisThe Former Czar

1919

At the Tomb of NapoleonPreliminary PeaceNo Water BugSafer in AmericaAn Interview with MehitabelNo Beer No WorkRoyal Blood and AnarchyI Left There Too SoonClassed with FleasA Home among the CasksHelp I Can Give the Worried HousewifeIn Spite of H Dash Double LGaloshes for CockroachesA Poem in the Kipling MannerPut Me in the MoviesThe Best Thing You Have Done YetArchy Is Still on StrikeGrin and Beer ItThe Archy StrikeCall Archy BackAn InjunctionArchy Gets a 50 Per Cent IncreaseThank You for the AdviceDarned Little JusticeArchy Gets Restless AgainA Plum PlanTrying to Ruin MeTo Settle the ControversyRheumatismThis Monster ManThe Cat Show

1920

Archy Is IllThe Anti Cockroach ConspiracyA ThreatThe ShimmieA Former DoughboyPretty Soft for YouA Little WaterbugAn Archy DriveSentimental about BirdsA Sad Time DietingCrazy as a Bed BugRandom Thoughts by ArchyI Saw a Football Game

1921

No PrivacyThis Lenin PersonOrganizing the InsectsThe Cockroach Its Life HistoryMy Private CometDodo Birds and Cubist PostersTo Become GrasshoppersKu Klux KlamO City of AngelsArchy Turns Highbrow for a MinuteKrew Krux KranksCursed Fly Swatters

1922

The Cheerful OysterTalking to a MothGround for OptimismWaiting for a Vacant BodyInterviewed the MummyArchy to the Radio FansOnce Every Seventeen YearsThe Truth about the InsectsWarty BliggensStrange BedfellowsMy Favorite PoemAlways the LadyArchy’s Own Short Course in EntomologyThe Patagonian PenguinBe Glad You’re Not a TomcatThe Most Luckless CreatureLow BrowSong of MehitabelForgets His LittlenessBusiness MattersFairiesI Knuckle UnderThe Dactyl DroopsInvestigating Her MoralsSmall TalkShakespeare and IThank You for the MittensArchy Is ExcitedThe Futility of Literature